THE funeral of eight-month-old Koa Brock took place earlier this week, with the tot laid to rest on World Meningitis Day. 

Koa, whose dad Barry Brock is from Haddington, passed away after a battle with meningococcal meningitis. 

His funeral, attended by family and close friends only, was held in Dumfries, where Barry now lives with Koa's mum Haley Hamilton, on Tuesday. 

Barry, 38, posted on Facebook yesterday (Wednesday): "Thanks to everyone who came to Koa’s funeral. 

"[It] was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do but thanks to everyone’s support I got there."

He revealed that he had written a poem for his son and read it at the funeral, before adding: "Sleep tight baby boy."

A picture of the order of service was posted on a newly-created Koa Brock Facebook page. 

Alongside it was a message that read: "Well today my mummy, daddy, my family and friends had to say goodbye to me and it’s World Meningitis Day.

"Help raise lots of money for meningitis and raise awareness to try and stop this happening to other families."

When news of Koa's death broke, balloon releases took place all over Scotland, including in Haddington (see image below), while balloons were also released during the Scottish Cup semi-final between Rangers, who Barry supports, and Celtic. 

East Lothian Courier:

Meanwhile, a JustGiving page was set up to raise money for Mr Brock and Ms Hamilton and over the last two weeks it has raised just shy of £10,000 for the heartbroken family.